“How terrible for Nebo, for it’s laid waste.
    Kiriathaim is put to shame, it’s captured.
        The fortress is put to shame, it’s shattered.
² The pride of Moab is no more.
    In Heshbon they plotted evil against her:
‘Come and let’s eliminate her as a nation.’
    Madmen^[a] will also be silenced,
        and the sword will pursue you.
³ The sound of crying will come from Horonaim,
    devastation and great destruction.
⁴ Moab will be destroyed;
    her little ones will cry out.
⁵ Indeed, at the ascent of Luhith
    people will go up with bitter weeping.
At the descent of Horonaim
    the anguished cries over the destruction will be heard.
⁶ Flee, save your lives,
    and you will be like a wild donkey^[b] in the desert.
⁷ But, because you trust in your deeds and your riches,
    you will also be captured.
Chemosh^[c] will go out into exile,
    along with his priests and officials.
⁸ A destroyer will come to every town
    and no town will escape.
The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed.”
    This^[d] is what the Lord has said!
⁹ “Put salt^[e] on Moab^[f]
    for she will surely fall.
Her towns will become desolate places,^[g]
    without any inhabitants in them.
¹⁰ Cursed is the one who is slack
    in doing the Lord’s work.
Cursed is the one who holds back his sword
    from shedding^[h] blood.
¹¹ Moab has been at ease from his youth.
    He has been undisturbed like wine^[i] on its dregs
        and not poured from vessel to vessel.
He has not gone into exile.
    Therefore, his flavor has remained,
        and his aroma has not changed.

¹⁴ “How can you say, ‘We’re strong warriors,
    and soldiers ready^[k] for battle’?
¹⁵ Moab will be destroyed,
    and the enemy^[l] will come up against her cities.
Her finest young men will go down to slaughter,”
    declares the King,
        whose name is the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.
¹⁶ “Moab’s disaster is near at hand,
    and his calamity is coming very quickly.
¹⁷ Mourn for him, all who live around him,
    and all who know his name.
Say, ‘Oh how the mighty rod is broken,
    the glorious staff.’
¹⁸ “Come down from glory, and sit on parched ground,
    O woman who lives in Dibon,
for the destroyer of Moab will come up
    against you to destroy you.
        He will destroy your strongholds.
¹⁹ Stand by the road and keep watch,
    O woman who lives in Aroer.
Ask the man who flees and the woman who escapes.
    Say, ‘What happened’?
²⁰ Moab will be put to shame,
    for it will be destroyed.
Wail and cry out.
    Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.

²¹ Judgment has come to the plateau:^[m]
    to Holon and Jahzah,
and against Mephaath,
²²     Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,
²³ against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,
²⁴ against Kerioth, Bozrah,
and all the towns in the land of Moab,
    both far and near.
²⁵ The strength^[n] of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken,”
    declares the Lord.
²⁶ “Make him drunk for he has exalted himself
    against the Lord.
Moab will wallow in his vomit,
    and he will be the object of mocking.
²⁷ Wasn’t Israel an object of mocking for you?
    Wasn’t he treated like a thief,^[o]
so that whenever you spoke about him
    you shook your head in contempt?^[p]
28 Abandon the cities, and live on the cliffs,^[q]
    you inhabitants of Moab.
Be like a dove that builds a nest
    by the mouth of a cave.
²⁹ We have heard about Moab’s pride—
    he’s very proud—
his haughtiness, his arrogance,
    his insolence, and his conceit.^[r]
30 I know his gall,”
    declares the Lord,
“and it’s futile;
    the boasting that they do is futile.
³¹ Therefore, I’ll wail for Moab,
    and for the whole of Moab I’ll cry out,
    for the men of Kir-heres I’ll moan.
³² More than the weeping for Jazer,^[s]
    I’ll weep for you, vine of Sibmah.^[t]
Your branches spread out to the sea,
    and reached as far as the Sea of Jazer.^[u]
On your summer fruit and grapes^[v]
    the destroyer will fall.
³³ Gladness and rejoicing will be taken away
    from the fruitful land.^[w]
From the land of Moab I’ll cause the wine
    in the wine presses to stop flowing.^[x]
The workers won’t tread^[y] the grapes with a loud shout.^[z]
    There will be no shout!

⁴⁰ For this is what the Lord says:
“Look, like an eagle one will fly swiftly
    and spread his wings against Moab.
⁴¹ The towns^[ae] will be captured
    and the strongholds seized.
On that day the hearts of the warriors of Moab
    will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
⁴² Moab will be destroyed as a nation^[af]
    because he exalted himself against the Lord.
⁴³ Terror, pit, and trap will be used^[ag] against you
    who live in Moab,”
        declares the Lord.
⁴⁴ “The one who flees from the terror
    will fall into a pit.
And the one who comes up out of the pit
    will be caught in a trap.
For I’ll bring upon her, that is upon Moab,
    the time of her^[ah] punishment,”
        declares the Lord.
⁴⁵ “The fugitives will stand without strength
    in the shadow of Heshbon,
for fire will go out from Heshbon
    and a flame from the middle of Sihon.
It will devour the forehead of Moab
    and the heads of the rebellious people.^[ai]
46 How terrible for you, Moab!
    The people of Chemosh^[aj] will perish.
Indeed, your sons will be taken into captivity,
    and your daughters as well.^[ak]
47 But I’ll restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days,”
    declares the Lord.

This concludes the judgment on Moab.